Last Sunday marked the 25th anniversary of a school bus crash in Alton, Texas that claimed the lives of 21 junior high students. The Mission Consolidated Independent School District held a memorial ceremony at Alton Memorial Junior High last Friday to remember those who perished.
On September 21, 1989, the driver of a Dr. Pepper truck ran a red light and hit the school bus, which then plunged into a pit of water and became completely submerged. The National Transportation Safety Board found that the truck driver was responsible for causing the crash. A court later required Valley Coca-Cola, the driver’s employer, to pay $4.5 million to the families for each child who died and to pay between $500,000 and $900,000 to each of the 60 children who survived.
A funeral for Laura Zborowski, a bus driver who died while saving a child during an evacuation drill gone wrong, was held Monday. Several yellow buses lined the streets as dozens of fellow bus drivers went to pay their respects. Zborowski, a recent breast cancer survivor was described as a “kind-hearted person” and a quote on the funeral program said “she died as she lived, putting the needs of others before her own.”
A special needs bus driver and aide also became heroes yesterday when they saved a family whose house was on fire. The two women from Clarksville, Tennessee were heading to their first stop in the morning when they noticed a burning mobile home. The driver, Lisa Winchester, told the Leaf-Chronicle that her first thought was that the occupants were probably still sleeping. She stopped and parked the bus, which had no children yet on board. The aide, Teresa Brown, banged on the door in order to alert the family, while Winchester stayed on the bus and asked her dispatcher to contact the authorities. The occupants safely evacuated the home with no injuries, and Winchester and Brown eventually got back on the road to begin their route.
A 12-year-old boy from Coral Springs, Florida has been charged with possessing a weapon after threatening his sister on a school bus. The driver heard a fuss towards the back of the bus and saw a student holding what appeared to a semi-automatic gun in his rearview mirror. According to the Sun Sentinel, the boy told police he threatened his sister because she refused to share her Doritos with him.
A bullying incident in Denver, Colorado could have turned deadly when a third-grade boy pushed kindergartener Thaddeus Delaney under a school bus that was pulling into the curb. The bus ran over his leg and the boy suffered three broken bones in one foot.
“He’s been mean to me all my life,” he said about the bully.
“This kid doesn’t understand that my son could be dead right now,” said Thaddeus’ mother to Denver’s ABC 7 news.
Head Start Awareness Month kicks off this Monday with events scheduled during the fall leadership institute, including a keynote address by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nicholas Kristof.
Joplin Schools in Missouri moved into its new high school facility, the last district building that needed to be replaced due to damage caused by a 2011 tornado. The district will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony on October 3, with Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan scheduled to attend. Midwest Transit and IC Bus will sponsor transportation for the event. The school district’s transportation department received an award in April from Tyler Technologies and Versatrans for mobilizing evacuation and relief efforts.
Last week, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee confirmed Christopher Hart’s nomination to be Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. Hart is schedule to speak to the industry in November at the NAPT Summit and the NASDPTS Annual Conference.
